ThingLink is Exploiting Virtual Reality for the Benefit of Education

Virtual reality is now finding applications in so many diverse areas outside of the normal norm of entertainment and videos. Education is one sector that can benefit hugely from this technology and the guys at ThingLink are exploiting it with their new virtual reality app for elementary school students, their teachers and their parents. This app is called VR Lessons.

VR lessons by ThingLink is a repository of excellent quality, interactive and immersive 360-degree multimedia (image and video) that touches on a number of subjects including science, languages and arts. Some of the stories transport students to all kinds of ecosystems from the French Alps to the jungles of Northern Australia. As the viewer turns his head in different directions to look around, he can see and spot various details and unlock additional information concerning each habitat in a narrated virtual reality environment.

“Virtual reality can take students to places they could only dream of visiting, but it is also an open canvas for students to imagine and build new worlds and experiences. We are making it possible for schools to use virtual reality as an engaging learning platform,” says ThingLink’s founder and CEO Ulla Engestrom.

VR Lessons by ThingLink

VR Lessons by ThingLink makes use of three essential features in addition to all of its core product. These three features are the audio annotations, background audio for 360-degree images and the ability to connect several 360-degree images or videos into one immersive story. When all of these three features combine together, what you have before you is a beautiful piece that relays all of the information it needs to seamlessly and without ambiguity.

“Audio annotations work wonderfully in a mobile VR environment, adding depth to the overall experience of the space. For example, in VR Lessons we added the sound of the wind in the background of an image from the Norwegian tundra, and an owl howling in the image of a cold winter forest in Finland. In annotations we are using both human and computer voiced files, and students can vote which voice they like the best,” says Engestrom.

The first VR lessons available have been created in house by ThingLink’s own content team with the help of the company’s new virtual reality editor. Subsequently, educators from all around the world and from all walks of life will be able to create and publish their won content in ThingLink’s VR lessons.

Benefits of ThingLink’s VR Lessons

This advancement in technology and the subsequent utilization in the education sector is one that will be of immense benefit to the classroom. A lot of students and human beings in general tend to understand things more when they see it and virtual reality goes a step further than just showing you but you get to experience it. Seeing is believing they say and also experience is the best teacher.

Featured Video

About

VR Life aims to build this news portal into one of the web's most intuitive and user-friendly experiences when looking for information on all things VR related.

At VR Life, we explore the cutting-edge of virtual reality, augmented reality, and human-computer interaction. We hope to provide you with content rich news and reviews on latest gadgets, innovation, and creativity.